Preparing Children for their First Day of School

This is mostly a transcript of my notes with my thoughts thrown in based on a class that I'm currently taking.

How to Prepare Your Child for Their First Day of School

Be positive, confident and enthusiastic about school.  Children are intuitive and pick up on what mom is feeling very easily, so its doubly important to remain upbeat about this important transition in their lives.  A number of activities can help both you and your child feel happier about this change.

• Buy uniform and school supplies together
• Talk about what they can anticipate out of their school day
• Walk by the school that they'll be attending frequently and talk it up
• Point out children your child already knows who goes to that school
• Read books together about the first day at school

If you have any fears, do a few things to help alleviate those fears.

• Meet the staff and ask about how the child's daily routine is going to be so that you can share this information with your child
• Ask about how long drop offs are and take that time to engage your child in activities going on at the school or nursery.  Some schools will have as much as a half hour for parents to visit with their children before they actually start their classes

Even before the first day of school, you can get a sense for how your child will take to being separated from mom at home.

• Go to a 'taster' day... a time when children can be dropped off at the school for about an hour to see how they adjust on their own
• Join community classes such as these that also utilize a 'creche' (hourly on-site child care) so that your child can experience being left with a play group while mom is in the next room